Introduction
Welcome to CrisisWeb, the International Crisis Group's On-line Publishing System
The International Crisis Group (ICG) is made up of concerned individuals from all over the world who are alarmed by the spiralling costs, both human and financial, of the ever-increasing number of conflicts on our planet and who believe that the responsibility for dealing with these problems lies fairly and squarely with the international community.
We share the dismay felt by so many of our fellow citizens that our international institutions seem paralysed by a deterioration of political will and authority, a loss of direction and a crisis of confidence. In particular, the great proliferation of man-made disasters which has occurred since the ending of the Cold War has demonstrated quite clearly that the present international crisis response system - a loose amalgam of private groups, governments, and international institutions - is now itself in crisis.
ICG provides a new basis for tackling the current crisis in the international response system. We believe that ICG, with its distinguished and high profile board of trustees comprising former national leaders, parliamentarians, senior government officials, international civil servants, Nobel laureates, senior corporate executives, and well known civic and humanitarian activists, has the authority, legitimacy and credibility to address complex problems. Many are tried and tested within the crisis response community and can therefore engage with the problems from a solid base of collective experience.
ICG aims to plug a gap which hitherto has been filled, on a largely ad hoc basis, by such initiatives as the exemplary Norwegian efforts to break the impasse in the Middle East by providing a framework for peace talks. ICG's role is not to engage in direct negotiations, but to alert governments and the world community when it believes the time is ripe for mediation or other diplomatic efforts on broad or narrow issues, possibly suggesting what forms such efforts might take. ICG field assessments and integrated analyses could, for example, help to inform the work of mediators or other diplomatic personnel.
We believe that there is both a need and a niche for a new international, non-governmental organisation capable of bringing together experienced crisis analysts to help shape response strategies and combining their efforts with those of highly placed, influential advocates whose job is to promote those strategies worldwide. It is this combining of skills that makes the ICG approach so special and gives it the capability which does not exist elsewhere for attracting the attention of both the public and the policy-makers in many different countries simultaneously and on a sustained basis.
Within this Web site you will be able to find information about the International Crisis Group, its methods and its work to date, in the form of reports and other texts which you may read, download or print freely (although we require citation and permission for reproducing our material). The system is designed to be easily navigable with most popular Web browsers, but if you experience any problems, please feel free to email us for help.
We hope you find the material here useful. If you have any comments, please get in touch.
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